


Ketchup Stains

by Twiceaday99



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Fluff, Mina is a confused gay vampire, Tzuyu is a sweetheart, we all know where this is going
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-07-13 16:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16021919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiceaday99/pseuds/Twiceaday99
Summary: Tzuyu did NOT expect to return from her little camping trip with a vampire.





	1. Chapter 1

Mina felt her mouth water at the smell. She was hungry and the intoxicating scent was all around her, flooding her nose. She pressed her lips together in an effort to control herself but it was no use, she hadn't fed since she was awaken from her slumber and the scent was too sweet, nothing like what she had encountered before. And if the scent was this strong, Mina couldn't even imagine the taste of it. 

No, what was she thinking? She was not going to kill someone for their blood. She swore not to when she turned decades ago. She was not a monster–

 _Ah_ but the scent was too enticing– 

Maybe a little. She would only feed off a little so she wouldn't kill the innocent being. That wouldn't do any harm, would it?

Unable to think clearly, Mina weakly wandered down the woods and followed the smell blindly. She found a campsite down the hill and the scent grew even stronger. She was so weak that she cursed herself– if she had been in a better condition it would have been easier to catch whatever it was that smelled so divine. But she could barely walk– she needed blood.

Her mouth dry as a desert, her throat tightened each passing second. She knew that she would soon die (again because technically she was already a walking corpse) if she didn't find any blood in time.

Through her blurry vision, she saw the shape of a human near the fire. The first few steps down the hill was torture and Mina could feel her legs giving out. When a miscalculated step tangled her legs, she fell down the hill in ridiculous speed.

When she opened her eyes again, she didn't feel as insane. Her throat wasn't dry. She was in an incredibly good state for having fallen down a hill. Her head throbbed, reminding her not all was perfect.

"You're awake!" A voice in the dark said, slowly coming closer into the light of the fire. Mina watched as a hooded mortal girl put what seemed to be a rabbit down with much care before making her way to her.

That scent again– although Mina felt fed, she wanted it. She hardly held back a growl when the mortal got closer. 

"I'm not going to hurt you," the mortal said softly at which Mina almost scoffed. This mere mortal couldn't hurt her even if she wanted to! 

"You fell down the hill and hit your head. I did my best but I don't really have any bandages or medicine so you should probably see a doctor or... something." The mortal sat down on the ground as Mina sat up on the sleeping bag. What weird texture it had– it wasn't leather like she expected it to be, it was puffy and somehow had a smooth surface.

"I'm fine." Her voice was hoarse as she answered- probably from not speaking for so long. To prove her statement, Mina grabbed the cloth around her head and ripped it off. Her vampire blood was enough for her to heal faster than any being– her 'rescuer' had merely quickened the process but she would have been fine either way. She tried her best to supress an amused grin when the mortal visibly flinched and turned away.

She was fed and rested, she should leave. She was close to the city– she could tell now that her vampire senses were strengthening, allowing her to hear the distant sounds gathered in one place– the city had gotten a lot louder while she was gone, Mina noticed and decided to tune it out for the sake of her sanity. How long was she sleeping anyway? There were a lot more questions in line that were waiting to be answered and Mina was getting impatient.

So instead of leaving, she stayed where she was and asked, her curiosity getting the best of her, "Do you know what I am?"

The mortal not-so-subtly shuffled away at the question and grabbed the rabbit that was sniffing her side. "A vampire," she mumbled, her face hidden beneath a hood, her hair cascading down her shoulders. Mina resisted asking what the hell this mortal was wearing– it was unlike anything she had seen before.

Satisfied with the answer, Mina prompted further, "How did you feed me?"

"I... didn't. You k-killed one of the rabbits..." Mina could easily tell the mortal was on the verge of crying even if she couldn't see her face. 

"Oh," Mina shouldn't feel bad. The poor rabbit was probably closer to her than any other living being when she was bloodthirsty or Mina had no doubt she would of sucked the mortal dry instead.  "I'm sorry...for that." Her mouth spilled the words before she could stop them. Why was she even apologizing?!

"I-It's fine. Her family was dead when I found her too...Now they're together." The mortal lifted her head and Mina finally saw her eyes. Bright brown orbs swimming in tears looked up at her so innocently, Mina was taken aback. And when the mortal gave her a broken smile, Mina suddenly felt like she had killed the entire population of a city rather than a tiny rabbit.

What was this mortal doing to her?

"Why did you help me?" Mina asked the question that bothered her the most. Most people would have tried to put a stake in her heart at the sight of her, not...not help her. 

"I-I couldn't just leave you to  _die_ ," said the mortal, bringing her hood down, revealing her face for Mina to see.

Mina almost laughed. It was undeniably cute that the mortal thought she would die from a little head injury. Warmth spread around her chest and she resisted the urge to ruffle the mortal's long wavy hair that was in the most beautiful shade of brown Mina had ever seen.

"Why are you..." The vampire looked around her, "here?" Her questions didn't seem to have an end, but the mortal answered each of them with patience.

"I sometimes come here when I feel down."

The dejected look on the mortal's face surprisingly bothered Mina so much that she found herself frowning. Just then, the smell of blood reached her sensitive nose– its unique sweet scent. The mortal's hand was injured. Mina stared curiously as the girl glanced at her briefly before turning her attention to her hand with a wince. Whatever wound that was on her hand must have been deep the vampire thought, or it wouldn't have reopened and bled that much through the bandages.

The mortal was on her feet before Mina could snap herself out of the spell the blood had put on her– it was appetizing, sure, but Mina wasn't heartless. This mortal was nice– too nice to help even a vampire. It was weird but Mina didn't want the mortal to regret helping her. She wasn't used to being treated as a living being by humans since she turned– they usually would scream when they see her and run or follow her with pitchforks and torches. Sometimes both. Neither was very nice in Mina's opinion.

The mortal glanced at her again, as if she was trying to be sure she wasn't going to be attacked by the vampire as she unwrapped her bandages. Blood dripped down her hand as she searched for something, Mina watched intently. Her fangs ached, piercing the inside of her mouth. She swiped her tongue over her top lip.

The evident pain on the mortal's face told Mina that she wasn't used to injuries like this. 

Hoping to have the self-control not to pounce on the girl as she got closer, the vampire made her way to the mortal. She was taller than Mina thought. The girl didn't seem to notice her presence, still in a frantic search for what Mina guessed to be new bandages. Her lips pressed together, she pulled the mortal's injured hand between her own. The mortal jumped in horror and tried to retrieve her hand back but Mina kept her hold firm, but not too firm that would hurt her.

Mina muttered the spell she long ago learned from her mother and kept her eyes on the mortal's wide ones. The moment she let go, the taller girl grabbed her own hand that was once injured, but now healed. She looked up into the red eyes of the predator before her. "H-How did you do that?"

Mina resisted the urge to lick the mortal's blood that was on her fingers, not wanting to scare her off. So instead she wiped her fingers on her dusty cloak, painting it red. Ah, what a waste. "Let's just say I know a few things and leave it at that." She took a few steps back, creating distance between them.

The mortal looked down and swallowed thickly as she examined her healed hand. "Thank you."

Well, that's something Mina hadn't heard in a while. It was nice. Hardly holding back a smile, the vampire looked away.

"I'm Tzuyu." When the vampire's red glowing eyes met hers, she fidgeted in her place. This vampire was dangerous no doubt but Tzuyu wanted to know more about her. She didn't seem like the kind of vampire that was described by most people. If she was, Tzuyu knew she wouldn't be alive and breathing by now.

Both of Mina's eyebrows raised slightly as she gave her name to the mortal. "Mina." She crossed her arms, "Wanna tell me why your hand was like that?" 

"I was trying to help a fox. He was trapped." She smiled. "He's okay now though..I hope."

There was something about the girl that entranced Mina. Something about the way her wavy locks framed her soft puppy-like features, about the way her eyes shined like diamonds, about the way her smile made that one dimple appear at her left cheek– Mina had never been so intensely captivated by someone else her entire life and the realization startled her.

"Do you.. live in the woods?" The mortal asked cautiously, as if afraid of her. Mina didn't like that. 

"No." Mina was sure that she didn't live in the woods. But...where did she live then? The city? She couldn't remember much from before she was put to sleep. "Can you tell me the year we're in?"

The mortal made a confused face but answered nonetheless, "It's 2018."

Mina almost choked on air. 2018?! Oh, she definitely overslept. Over a thousand years no less! This definitely explained the mortal's weird clothes and belongings. The new knowledge somehow scared Mina. This world she had woke up to was a totally different one than she used to live in. Putting her hand over her eyes, she groaned, rethinking her plans of returning to the city, maybe she could live in the woods. Yeah, why not.

"Are you okay..?"

Mina slowly opened her eyes and sighed, annoyed. "Yeah...yeah I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Almost instinctively, a soft growl escaped from the vampire's throat and she glared at the tall girl who flinched and took a step back, frightened. The girl's scared features made Mina feel a tiny bit of regret and her eyes immediately softened. She didn't mean to scare her.

She crossed her arms and looked away. "Ugh, sorry... Sleeping away a whole millenium is kind of a lot to take in. Never slept that long before. Don't think anyone has."

Tzuyu's eyes widened and she froze. "Wh...What? A m-millenium? "

Mina smirked, the reactions to her immortality was always very entertaining.

"But what about your friends? Family? Are you alone...?"

 

 _It's_   _over!_   _You_   _can't_   _hide_   _forever_ ,  _you_   _beast!_   _You're_   _aall_   _alone_ _now_.

 

Mina's gaze dropped to the ground and her vision went black. Some of her memories were coming back to her. Painful ones. The ones that helped Mina remember the reason she was put to sleep in the first place.

Taking Mina's silence as a yes, Tzuyu felt bad for asking. Now that she thought about it, it was a bit rude...and hurtful. At that moment Tzuyu wished she could learn how to keep her mouth shut and not blurt out whatever she was thinking. It would make her life a lot easier, for sure. The vampire seemed to be in deep thought, maybe even had forgotten her presence.

"You can uh, come to my place." Mina's blank eyes looked up at her with interest. "I mean, if you want to?"

The vampire lifted an eyebrow. "The only thing you know about me is that I'm a vampire. Why in the hell would you help me?" 

"I think I kind of owe you for not killing me on the spot."

That earned a chuckle from the vampire, and Tzuyu didn't know what to feel about that because she was  _not_  kidding. 


	2. Chapter 2

It took Tzuyu quite a while to say goodbye to the rabbits but they eventually managed to leave much to Mina's relief. She didn't want to spend any more time than she had to in this cursed forest she had woken up in.

They walked in silence through the woods. Mina didn't mind it while Tzuyu found it a little unnerving as she didn't know what the vampire was thinking while following her quietly.

After a few minutes, a small red car entered their field of vision when Tzuyu pulled the branches apart, revealing the road to the city.

And then all of a sudden, Tzuyu found herself being pulled back by a tight grip on her arm that would surely leave bruises later.

"Wait," the vampire whispered, sending chills down her spine. "There's something over there."

Tzuyu followed the vampire's gaze and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the reason Mina was alert. "That's my car." 

Mina let go of the tall girl. "Your...car? So it's  _your_  pet?" Her voice had a childish awe around it. "How did you even tame such a huge thing?"

Tzuyu tried to hide her smile by pressing her lips together but couldn't suppress it in the end as she spoke. "No, it's um..it's hard to explain. It's a machine that I ride to get to places."

Mina's red eyes narrowed in confusion.

Tzuyu decided to try again, finding the vampire's expressions far too amusing than she should. "It's like a horse but it doesn't get tired 'cause well...it's not alive." 

Mina's gaze wandered back to the car, curious. She walked towards it and Tzuyu followed quietly, watching the vampire with interest.

Before Tzuyu could open the door for Mina to get in, the vampire started climbing on top the car. Tzuyu put a hand on her shoulder with a small laugh, making Mina stop. "That's not how–" She opened the door while still chuckling which irritated Mina greatly. This era was stupid.

Mina leaned down to look inside, surprised by the all grey interior and objects she had never seen before. Suddenly the other door opened and she flinched slightly at the unexpected movement. When she saw Tzuyu smiling at her while getting inside, she followed right after, finding her seat more comfortable than she expected.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Tzuyu pulled something from next to her and over her waist like some sort of belt. Mina found it odd but decided to do the same. Turning her eyes to her left, she looked around for the belt like thing. Without any warning, an attractive smell she couldn't quite identify reached her nose, and she inhaled sharply. Tzuyu was leaning over her. Mina didn't know why but she didn't care either. This scent was almost as strong as the smell of the mortal's divine blood and Mina was entranced by it.

Tzuyu felt Mina's glowing red eyes on her as she struggled to pull the seatbelt. She knew her car was old ,which is why it was so cheap when she bought it, but this was not the time for it to cause problems. She had a vampire breathing on her neck. Literally. 

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Tzuyu was supposed to smoothly lean and grab the seatbelt like how they do in movies. But here she was, tugging on the the damn thing with the vampire's confused eyes on her.

 _Stupid_   _car_.  _Stupid_   _seatbelt_ ,  _stupid_ ,  _stupid_ ,  _stupid_ –

Just then the stubborn seatbelt gave in and Tzuyu sighed because finally. She sat back on her seat and put Mina's seatbelt on with a click. "I-It's for safety," her voice came out higher than she expected so she cleared her throat.

Mina didn't say anything in return, watching as Tzuyu turned beet red under her stare. Smiling internally, the vampire looked ahead.

A roar scared the shit out of her.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

The mortal girl jumped in her seat 

Mina was clutching the armrest with one hand as she looked outside the car, trying to determine the whereabouts of the animal the roar had come from. Maybe it was a bear? Her hand tingled at the thought, getting ready to cast a few defensive spells.

Tzuyu panicked when the vampire's eyes turned a darker shade of red, literal sparks of electricity dancing in the palm of her open hand. "W-wait, wait!" Grabbing the vampire's arm, she desperately tried to explain, "It was just the car! That's how it works!"

A cold side glance from the vampire got Tzuyu shaking in her boots and she retracted her hand in lightning speed. Fortunately, the dangerous-looking sparks disappeared into thin air as Mina leaned back against her seat. She turned her head away and stayed silent, looking very calm despite the fact she was getting ready to fight a bear merely seconds ago.

As they drove towards the city, Mina was amazed by many things. About how fast the car was going, how smooth the roads were, how although it was night, there were tall sticks on the side of the road, lightening up their way. She was also a little amazed by the driver whose tan skin shone beautifully in the full moonlight. The mortal was so focused on driving that she didn't speak a word with Mina the whole ride. The vampire didn't mind it in the least, enjoying the view outside while listening to the sound of Tzuyu's loud heart.

She could easily tell the mortal was nervous without having the need to hear her fast hearbeats. Maybe Mina was partly to blame. She couldn't help it. No one would ever offer a vampire to live in the same house they do. Either this soft-hearted mortal girl was too stupid or too trusting. Mina couldn't decide so maybe she was both.

Entering the city was a whole new experience on its own. The protective walls around the city from her time were gone, the streets were alive even if it was midnight, tall big buildings hovered over them everywhere and Mina couldn't help but think, what if they fall? The new look of the city was a little hard for Mina to accept. There was so little green in between all the grey, which Mina felt saddened by. She leaned closer to the window when they stopped for whatever reason, trying to see every little change the city had gone through, watching as almost all the people ran in a hurry.

"Oh, uh, let me..." Tzuyu pressed the button to roll down the window, amazed at how the scary vampire had turned into a cute kid in Disneyland in such short time. She smiled. Maybe if they became close, Tzuyu could take her there sometime.

Mina felt the wind on her pale cheeks as she observed the new world before her.

Tzuyu waited for the light to turn green before she pressed the gas pedal once again.

***

"This is where you live?" Mina asked, looking up at the huge building. She could barely see the top of it. Maybe because it was dark? She couldn't really tell. "Are you royalty or something?"

Tzuyu laughed openly. "No. It's not all mine, I just own a little part of it." She pushed open the door and looked back at the vampire over her shoulder. "Come on," 

It took some time to convince Mina that the elevator was totally safe. Mina had her doubts about going into the small box but she got in anyway after some explanation.

"9th floor." The elevators announcement caused Mina to flinch, but when she noticed that Tzuyu was not alerted by it, she decided against doing anything.  _Magic_   _tricks_   _in_   _this_   _era_   _are_   _endless_.  _Better_   _not_   _to_   _think_   _too_   _much_   _about_   _it_.

Mina's short cloak trailed behind her as Tzuyu led her to a door at the end of the hall.

Without a word the mortal unlocked the door with her key. Mina tiptoed behind the tall girl to peek inside, curious.

"Sorry, I know it's kind of messy. It isn't usually though– just during finals." Tzuyu chuckled nervously, watching Mina as the girl looked around at every detail.

Mina didn't care what these 'finals' were but she hoped they didn't come around often. This place looked like a war zone.

"Is this you?" She asked, taking one of the few framed photos on the table. It was quite an adorable picture. A little girl she assumed to be Tzuyu was sitting near the ocean, her little brows furrowed in concentration, her chubby cheeks puffed as she stood in front of a sandcastle that was just as tall as her. The picture looked so real that Mina started to have doubts that it was painted.

"Yup." Tzuyu smiled, moving to stand next to the vampire.

 

* * *

To say it was easy for Mina to get used to the 21st century would be the biggest lie of Tzuyu's life. Not that she lied that much– well, she kind of couldn't, she wasn't very skilled at it as the results of her life choices would show–

Anyway. Yes. Mina. The stupidly gorgeous vampire. Last of her kind.

It had been barely a week since they started living together. Mina usually stayed in, she wasn't particularly a fan of the sun. It's not like it burned her or anything but it drained her energy to the point she would faint if under it too long. Mina weighed heavier than she looked is all Tzuyu can say.

Tzuyu had lent the vampire some of her clothes after they got weird looks from the people outside. While Mina couldn't understand why she had to change out of her comfortable leather vest and black tights along with her cloak, Tzuyu knew better. Mina looked like a freaking cosplayer.

 Tzuyu also kind of might have,  _maybe_ – spent the rest of her money to buy Mina brown lenses for her to hide her red eyes. It was hard to ask her mother for more allowance when she couldn't come up with a good excuse.

Her parents back in Taiwan had been ridiculously suspicious. It's not like they could help it, they were just worried for her. They knew Tzuyu was too trusting for her own good. It had caused a lot of problems in the past. But the Chous could rest easy because even if their daughter was in another country, she had caring friends who looked out for her.

Speaking of friends, none of them knew of the recent roommate Tzuyu suddenly got. She didn't know how they would react and she wasn't sure if she was ready to endure another three hours of lecture from Jihyo. She made that mistake once in her life and she was NOT going through it again.

Mina.

Tzuyu tapped her pen on the desk, thinking about what she could be doing at the moment. Maybe she was getting ready to go out to feed. It was around two in the afternoon, she must be feeling hungry.

A sigh escaped from her lips, and she barely heard the distinct sounds of someone talking. She didn't want to know how or what Mina was feeding on. She didn't like the idea of Mina's soft, delicate hands taking the life of another. Mina wasn't a murderer. Tzuyu could say that for sure because of the time they spent together the past week. A killer wouldn't cry while watching a Disney movie, okay? Tzuyu smiled when she remembered how Mina had pretended like she hadn't shed a tear when Tzuyu tried to tease her for it later. It had ended with Mina conjuring a fireball in her hand and Tzuyu shutting her mouth faster than she could run. But Mina could act tough all she wanted, Tzuyu just knew there was a big softie underneath.

Anyway. Mina just needs blood to survive. Simple as that.

Tzuyu felt someone hitting her head. "–llooo, anybody in there?" Flinching slightly, the pen fell out of her grasp as she looked up at Chaeyoung. "I've been calling out to you for like ten minutes. I thought you died or something."

Tzuyu grabbed her bag and followed her friend out the room.

"I wouldn't blame you though. That was boring as hell." Chaeyoung playfully bumped into her side as they walked through the hall. "What's up? You okay?"

"Of course. W-Why wouldn't I be?"

Chaeyoung shrugged. "I dunno, you've been acting kind of weird the past week."

Tzuyu felt her mouth go dry. "I am not."

The shorter of the two snorted, "Yeah, right. You're totally acting the exact way Momo unnie did back when she had a huge crush on Chungha unnie...–" She suddenly gasped, turning to Tzuyu with a grin, "You have a crush!"

"Wha...no, I don't!"

Chaeyoung pouted. "Fine. Then what's the problem?"

"Nothing!"

Under her friend's suspicious gaze, Tzuyu started to panic. Chaeyoung didn't seem like she was going to drop it anytime soon. She held her breath as her best friend opened her mouth again, her eyes narrowed.

"Can I come over tonight? We'll watch movies and stuff. Finals just ended after all."

OH NO.

"I-I don't know.. My place is a mess–"

"Cool. I'll come by around seven."

As Chaeyoung left her in the middle of the hall, Tzuyu stood frozen.  _Crap_.

  
***

"So let me summarize everything you just told me." Mina's eyebrows furrowed as she spoke, "Your friend is coming over in three hours."

"Yes."

"I'm Myoui Mina. I knew you since when we were little back in Tewain."

" _Taiwan_ , but yes."

"I have problems with my family who are actually from Japan. I've come to live with you for the time being because you offered to help me. I'm a grateful human friend."

Tzuyu nodded. "Exactly. You think you can do it?"

The vampire scoffed, a smirk appearing on her face. "Please. I pretty much know everything about the 21st era now."

"Good. Good. That's good." Tzuyu was sweating. "You didn't leave any of your blood packs in the fridge, did you?"

"No." Mina calmly stared at Tzuyu's panicking face for a few seconds, wondering why she was so worried. It wasn't that hard to deceive humans. Mina could easily do it. She could even cast a spell if she wanted to and offered just to do that, but Tzuyu refused instantly, not wanting to harm her friend. 

Friend.

Mina wondered what the term friend meant in this era. Back in her time, she didn't have many friends. And the ones she had were constantly hunted down by mercenaries or assassins, not leaving her much alive ones. She tried being friends with mortals once, back when she was first turned, but she hated it. She hated it because as she stayed the same, the mortals changed tremendously through the years and they eventually died. Mina didn't like watching her friends die. No one does. So she stayed away from humans, mostly staying alone for hundreds of years. Those were some long boring years.

What kind of friends does Tzuyu have? Mina found herself asking, a ridiculous bundle of excitement jumping up and down in her chest as she thought of meeting them. Were they like the girls in Pretty Little Liars? Mina hoped not. She didn't like those girls much. Why Tzuyu had made her watch a few episodes of it was still a mystery. 

She glanced at the sulking mortal girl, who taught her so much in just a week. Were they considered friends? Mina felt her chest tighten– she really wanted to know. 

Tzuyu felt Mina's emotionless gaze on her and sighed sadly. "I'm really sorry,"

"For what," Mina breathed out.

"For making you lie. For forcing you to hide the real you."

"You're not making me do anything. I've hid who I am my entire life," Mina touched her fangs with her tounge, feeling their sharp ends. "This isn't anything new. People just don't really like vampires." She scoffed. "They made that very clear when they set my home on fire." She was fine with lying. It's not like Mina wanted to yell out to everyone she saw that she was the last vampire on earth. The thought gave her shivers. Not everyone was going to invite her to their house for tea like Tzuyu.

Tzuyu slowly lifted her head up, her eyes swimming in the tears of guilt and sympathy. "I- I didn't—"

"It was very long ago. I'm over it." Mina waved her off, leaning back against the couch, watching as the younger girl rubbed her eyes on her arm quickly as if to hide her tears.  _What_   _a_   _crybaby_.

"It's not fair." Tzuyu croaked out. Mina only stared. Were humans always this interesting? "I'm sorry," Sniffling, the human straightened up and her gaze met the vampire's, her apology as sincere as it could be. "I promise...she's a good person. If you want to tell her the truth—"

"I don't. If what you told me is true, that the vampires went extinct, I have to be extra careful about my identity now." The tragic history of the vampires was one of the things Mina first learned from Tzuyu. It was hard to believe but made _some_ sense nonetheless. "Although I'm sure we aren't truly extinct, some are probably hiding themselves like I am."

"Yeah," was the only reply Mina heard from the other girl, and she immediately thought the conversation was over. Indeed words were no longer exchanged between them, but Mina soon felt warmth on her cool skin, enveloping her body, giving her the feeling of something she was not used to. Then it was gone, before she could even hold onto it. Her dead heart almost jumped when Tzuyu gave her a slight smile after pulling away.

"I need to go out and buy some snacks," Tzuyu said, getting up.

The vampire stood. "I'll go with you."

The tall girl looked surprised but then she nodded, leaving the room to get her coat.

Mina followed after, trying to remember the last time she was given a hug as warm as Tzuyu's.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for the kudos and comments! I'm glad you guys like it <3

"What's this?"

Tzuyu poked her head out from the huge pile of chocolate bars to look at what Mina was holding. "Oh, that's ketchup!" Pushing the cart, Tzuyu stopped near the vampire who kept looking at the ketchup bottle in her hand in pure concentration.

"Yes well, I can read," Mina said, not lifting her gaze from the bottle, wondering what it would taste like since it looked really red and... blood-y.

Giving the vampire an annoyed look, Tzuyu grabbed the ketchup bottle from her hand and put it in the cart before walking away, mumbling. "You were the one who asked, geez."

Mina followed her with a small smile, happy that the red bottle was now in their cart.

In the end, they left the grocery store with two bags of snacks. Tzuyu was glad to be out of there, Mina asked way too many questions about literally everything that it became tiring. But sure, the childish glint in the vampire's eyes when she saw the vegetables section and ran towards it in awe was without a doubt the cutest thing Tzuyu had seen her entire life. Mina had later cleared her throat and mumbled some excuse about the vegetables being bigger and brighter than back from her time. Tzuyu had a big teasing grin on her face and was going to comment on how excited Mina was until she saw little sparks in the vampire's hand ready to fry her. She pushed her cart faster than lightning to another section after that. Mina clearly didn't like being teased or so it seemed.

"I read s-somewhere that everything b-but blood tastes bad for vampires."

Mina scoffed. "The things you mortals come up with, seriously. I can taste just fine."

Tzuyu stuffed her hands in her pockets to warm them, glancing at the vampire who was holding the bags as they walked back home under the orange sky. "But..."

The white breath that escaped from Tzuyu's lips was enough to convince Mina that the weather was very cold by human standarts. She didn't feel the cold– her body was always cold. One of the perks of being dead. "I guess you could say blood is like my water. I die without it, but I need normal food too, just way less than you do." Throwing a side-glance at Tzuyu again, she saw her trembling, cheeks red and lips dry. Her coat didn't seem warm enough and Mina had the sudden urge to drape her cloak over the tall girl's shoulders.... then she remembered she had abandoned her cloak for hoodies.

_It's not like she's going to die, it's not that cold._

"O-Oh. Th-That's goo–od. For a second th-there I thought I wa-was forcing you to eat with me all th-this time." Tzuyu could only curse herself for not wearing anything warm underneath her coat. Sure, it was winter but the weather wasn't so bad when they went out. And now, a cold breeze was hitting Tzuyu in the face and making her teeth clatter as if it was making fun of her. Did Tzuyu mention she was sensitive to cold temperatures?

Mina swallowed thickly, trying to focus ahead rather than the freezing mortal. Just then, her eyes caught two humans across the street, far away from them. She watched them, curious to see how they were dealing with the weather. The shorter girl grabbed the tall man's hand and put their joined hands in his pocket. The man smiled down at the girl as they walked closer together. _They look warm._

But Mina couldn't do that. Because Mina didn't have any warmth to share with Tzuyu. Tzuyu wouldn't feel warm if Mina grabbed her hand. Tzuyu wouldn't feel warm if Mina hugged her. She couldn't, because Mina wasn't warm. Mina was always cold.

Always.

***

The door bell didn't make the vampire flinch like it used to.

"She's here!" Mina winced when Tzuyu almost tripped on her way to the door. Grabbing some of the bear-shaped jelly and throwing them into her mouth, Mina listened as Tzuyu greeted her friend. Focusing on the sounds of their footsteps, the vampire knew they were now coming to where she was, the living room.

The smile Mina prepared for Tzuyu's friend uncomfortably stayed on the vampire's face as she waited for them to enter.

"I know Jeongyeon unnie's just kidding but it's really not cool that she teases me cuz of my height every single time she sees me, y'know? I mean I don't grow anymore- so what? " Turning her head away, Chaeyoung's surprised eyes met Mina's. "Uh..hi?"

"Hello," Mina kept her smile.

Tzuyu's palms started to sweat. "Ah, Chaeyoungie. This is–"

"Myoui Mina. It's nice to meet you, Chaeyoung." Mina extended her hand for a handshake to greet Tzuyu's friend– she'd seen so many people doing the same thing on TV that it felt right to do it.

Tzuyu suddenly wanted to bury herself under her stuffed toys when Chaeyoung threw her a glare. She watched as her best friend shook Mina's hand with a slight frown. "It's...nice to meet you too. I didn't know Tzuyu had other friends over,"

In Tzuyu's mind, Chaeyoung's words were translated into something much more terrifying.

Mina tilted her head slightly to the side, happily letting the smile on her face fall.  "Oh, I live here."

Tzuyu's eyes widened when Mina dropped the bomb so casually.

"Oh, you do?" Chaeyoung smiled, her dimples had never looked this sinister, "Cool. Cool. Will you please excuse us for a second?" She said, grabbing onto her tall best friend's arm and dragging her away to the kitchen.

As she was being dragged, Tzuyu looked back just in time to see Mina sigh and run her hand through her hair. Their eyes met and Tzuyu made a crying face. The vampire didn't react and just plopped down on the couch, no longer looking at her.

"What the hell, Tzuyu?! How long has she been here?"

"...a-about a week?"

"Tzuyu-" she sighed, "You can't trust someone just because they go to a dog café. Just how many more girls do I have to kick out of your apartment for you to understand that?"

The taller of the two felt humiliated by her friend's words. It was just one time! One! And to be fair, the girl was very cute with her little puppy. And when Tzuyu learned they had been staying at the café for a few days, she didn't think twice about inviting the girl over. It ended with Chaeyoung busting the girl's ass while she was 'borrowing' from Tzuyu's wallet.

She crossed her arms. "Are you ever going to let that go? She said she needed it, Chaeng."

Chaeyoung nodded her head with a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah and you just believed her and gave all your money."

Now, Tzuyu was getting annoyed. "Why are you being such a jerk today?"

Chaeyoung's features softened. "Because I care about you, Tzuyu-ah. I don't want anything bad to happen."

All the negative feelings just flew out the window when Chaeyoung looked up at her with such worry in her eyes. Tzuyu wanted to hug her and tell her everything right then and there. But she couldn't do that, so she decided to at least reassure her friend that all was well. "She's a friend from Taiwan."

Chaeyoung sighed, lifting an eyebrow. "Promise?"

"Promise. Now let's go, I have all Resident Evil movies in order waiting for us." Tugging on the shorter girl's arm with a smile that showed off her one dimple, Tzuyu felt lucky to have a friend that cared for her as much as Chaeyoung.

***

"God, Alice is so hot." Chaeyoung commented suddenly, throwing a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Tzuyu shyly nodded in agreement while hugging a pillow to her chest, watching the screen in awe as the main protagonist Alice killed some zombies with badass fighting moves.

Mina wasn't that impressed, quietly watching. She couldn't see what the big deal was. She could kill those 'zombies' way faster. Just throwing a fireball would burn them all in seconds. There was no need for jumping around, trying to look cool. Alice was such a show-off.

At the very last scene of the series, Tzuyu's eyes got teary regardless of how many times she watched it when she saw the strong protagonist crying. Just then, the doorbell rang with perfect timing, opening an escape route from Chaeyoung's teasing.

"I'll get the door!" She ran out of the room, wiping the few tears that escaped from her eyes. She heard Chaeyoung chuckle behind her, but didn't think much on it, wondering who it could be at this hour.

She met with a pair of sparkly eyes when she opened the door.

"Sana unnie? What are you doing here?"

"Awww, I missed you too, Tzuyu!" Not really expecting a hug, Tzuyu stumbled backwards when Sana threw herself at her. Hesitantly she brought her hands up to hug back, whining against Sana's black leather jacket, "Unnieee...you're so cold..." She tried pushing the older girl away but Sana held onto her even tighter and giggled, "Still a tsundere, I see."

Tzuyu didn't know what that meant but when Sana drew her head back and looked up at her, grinning, she averted her gaze immediately, not used to having people this close to her face.

Laughing fondly at Tzuyu's reaction and flushed cheeks, Sana let go of her and took a step back, suddenly uneasy. "So...uh- Is Chaeyoung here by any chance? We were supposed to meet up today but she didn't show up. She's not answering her phone either." She put her cold hands in her pocket, her pinkish lips letting out a huff of white breath before forming a small smile that barely hid the worry in her eyes. "Your phone was off too, so I decided to drop by and see if everything was okay."

Tzuyu was quick to reply, not wanting her unnie to worry further, "Oh! She's inside, unnie! We just had a movie marathon."

Sana let go of the breath she was holding and her stiff shoulders relaxed. Now she looked annoyed. "Can I come in, Tzu?"

"S-Sure. Is everything–"

Sana brushed past her, stomping her way towards the living room, poor Tzuyu could barely keep up.

"Yah! Son Chaeyoung!"

"Sana? What are you–"

Mina's eyes widened when the girl 'Sana' came out of nowhere and tackled Chaeyoung on the floor, spilling all the popcorn. Chaeyoung struggled to break free of the girl's hold, red slightly coloring her cheeks as Sana's face was inches away from hers, looking absolutely pissed off. "Do you have any idea how long I looked for you!?"

Mina could only make one thing out of that sentence.

This girl was an assassin sent to kill Chaeyoung.

Mina didn't know assassins were still popular even in this era!

Oh but this amateur assassin -who was not even aware of her presence- picked the wrong target. Mina had to admit that even if she didn't like Chaeyoung much, Tzuyu obviously cared a lot about her and that was enough for the girl to be one of the names under Mina's protection list.

So, she took a few determined steps closer to the duo on the floor, a frown appearing on her face as she thought of a spell that would not destroy the whole building.

Suddenly, Tzuyu appeared right in front of her, blocking her way with a worried look and mouthing the words, " _She's a friend,_ "

Mina visibly relaxed. Lately, trusting Tzuyu was something she did without batting an eyelid and it sort of scared her.

 They both turned their attention to the other girls when Chaeyoung  spoke. "I'm really, so sorry! It completely slipped my mind –"

"I was so worried, Chaeyoung! Your roommate said she didn't see you at all today and I even asked that creepy dorm keeper–"

 "You... went to my dorm? But it's really far from here." Chaeyoung sounded like she was touched. 

It was Sana's turn to blush, "It's late! Anything could have happened to you..." She said, looking away with a frown.

A kiss on the cheek immediately lit up Sana's face, but she tried to keep her happiness under wraps– she wasn't supposed to forgive Chaeyoung this quickly.

"Sana, I know you're pissed but you know what?"

Sana turned her head, facing Chaeyoung once again with an annoyed look. "What?"

"I love you," Chaeyoung smiled cutely, showing off her dimples and finger hearts, melting all the girls in the room's heart except for Mina who was terrified of what she was currently witnessing.

Sana's blush reddened even more and she pecked Chaeyoung's lips, "You're lucky you're so cute."

"Well, I definitely am lucky because I have a caring, beautiful girlfriend like you,"

Tzuyu crossed her arms, fake gagging because of Chaeyoung's flirting attempts. "Can you guys go and be mushy somewhere else?"

Mina nodded in support, very serious.

And that was when Mina was finally noticed by Sana. "Oh I'm sorry, I kind of barged in here so I didn't see you." She smiled, "I'm Minatozaki Sana, this idiot's girlfriend,"

"I'm not an idiot."

"Shut it. I'm still angry at you."

Mina decided to play safe and repeated the girl's words. "Myoui Mina, this idiot's childhood friend."

Sana laughed at Tzuyu's dejected face.


	4. Chapter 4

Mina hated a lot of things of the 21st century.

First off, she hated how noisy it was– there wasn't a single place of solitude she could find in the city. And with their neighbor blasting some sort of weird music on the floor above them, Mina couldn't exactly find peace at their house either. She had told Tzuyu about this, voicing out how annoyed she was with the constant loud music. Tzuyu had only given her an apologetic smile, saying she didn't want to upset their neighbor for such a small thing.

Mina nearly lost it that day.

It was NOT a small thing when Mina could feel the veins inside her head throbbing painfully, _begging_ for some peace and quiet.

So she marched up to their neighbor's door, with Tzuyu clinging onto her– desperately trying to pull her back to avoid any argument. The vampire was unaffected by the weak human's attempts, the frown not leaving her face as she knocked on the door.

When there was no answer, Mina knocked harder, gritting her teeth in pure anger. Tzuyu knew better than to tell her to ring the bell instead.

Finally, a guy even taller than Tzuyu opened the door, different shapes of tattoo visible on his neck and arm, wearing nothing but a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black boxers. Tzuyu gasped quietly and hid behind Mina's smaller frame as soon as the door opened. It was freaking winter for gods sake! Who dresses like that? 

A disgusting smell reached Mina's nose as the guy looked them up and down then leaned against the door frame. The inside of his apartment was barely visible through the smoke. "Whaddya want?"

"For you to stop that crap you call music." Mina crossed her arms, looking up at the tall guy right in the eyes.

The man's frown immediately deepened. Grabbing the white stick from between his lips, he spoke as smoke came out of his mouth. (Was he a magician?) "And who the fuck are you?"

That did it.

The vampire took a few steps forward and the guy stumbled backwards into his apartment in sudden horror. Tzuyu couldn't understand what was going on as Mina shut the door behind her, leaving the tall girl clueless and scared outside their neighbor's house.

A few seconds later, the deafening music stopped and Mina came out right after with a blank face. They stared at each for a while in silence, before Tzuyu's fear took over and her eyes widened. "Please, oh god, please tell me you didn't kill him,"

Mina lifted up her eyebrows and shrugged. "I just scared him a little, don't worry about it." As Tzuyu was still losing her shit, Mina wandered down the stairs, being careful not to look down from the gap in the middle. She hated heights.

"Scared him how?!" Tzuyu ran to catch up.

The vampire sighed, annoyed by all the questions she was being asked. She looked back over her shoulder and met the mortal's eyes. "I said. Don't. worry about it."

When Mina's dark red eyes started glowing, Tzuyu only then realized the vampire wasn't wearing her lenses. Well, _that_ explained the guy's sudden change of expression.

Mina used her red eyes like a weapon.

Tzuyu first noticed this when one day she said she wouldn't order pizza, because hell, they couldn't eat pizza EVERY damn day.

Mina had been really... insistent. They ended up ordering more than they ever had that day. The poor human surely regretted ever saying anything in the first place.

Once Myoui Mina wanted something, there was nothing that could stop her from getting it.

Although the things Mina hated were a lot, she was also thankful for some things she found in this era.

 

Example: bras.

Having worn corsets her entire life, Mina could finally feel herself _breathing_ when she put on one of the bras Tzuyu bought for her. She was also surprised at how easy it was to wear compared to a corset. She felt so comfortable with it to the point where one day she didn't even bother wearing something else. Mina remembered Tzuyu's red face when the tall girl came home– she still couldn't understand what was there to be embarrassed about. Back in her era, girls _helped_ each other put on corsets, not leaving much to hide. Mina never had much help though, so it was a struggle every morning. There was only one person she had received help from but that was a very long time ago. 

_Anyway_ , whoever invented bras was a freaking genius and they had Mina's full respect and gratitude.

 

Which also goes for the inventor of ketchup.

It was without a doubt the most delicious human food ever. (She blatantly ignored Tzuyu when the mortal said ketchup wasn't considered food and was just sauce.

Just sauce? _Please_.)

The vampire wasn't really a believer of fate but grabbing that ketchup bottle in the grocery store in between of literally everything... What else could it be but fate?

 

Another thing she absolutely loved was the box thingy that Tzuyu called:  the TV.

She loved the magical world inside it, showing different sides of many people. It was currently her favorite time-killer. She'd lie down in front of the couch and grab a bottle of blood (or ketchup) before pushing random buttons on the smaller box thingy, making interesting things show up on the 'TV'.

 

It was one of those days today as she sat in front of the small screen(Tzuyu said big ones were quite expensive), remote controller in hand. Her hair was a mess and Mina didn't feel like fixing it. She looked down at her outfit; grey pajama pants and a red hoodie that had a cute bear printed on it with the words: 'Don't judge, just love!' written on it. She was too relaxed to move a muscle and it made her think:

It had only been about three weeks since she had woken up from her supposed-to-be-eternal sleep, and it surprised the vampire greatly that she got _this_ comfortable _this_ fast with a total stranger, and a _human_ at that.

But then again, Tzuyu wasn't exactly intimidating or annoying. Quite the opposite, she was really...nice to be around. Most of the time anyway.

And for today, Tzuyu didn't have classes so she stayed home. Mina didn't know whether she liked this or not. Normally, she wouldn't mind the company but Tzuyu had been cleaning around ALL day. Mina was _this_ close to throwing the vacuum cleaner out the window just when Tzuyu turned it off and put it away, plopping down on the couch next to her with a tired sigh.

"Our neighbor upstairs moved out this morning."

The vampire didn't part her eyes from the big screen, her face void of any emotion much like her voice. "Oh nooo."

"I feel so bad..."

Hearing the small voice, Mina glanced at the pitiful look on the human's face, bringing her cup of blood closer to her lips and taking a sip before replying, "Didn't you say he cursed you out the door when you brought him some of the cake you made?"

Tzuyu stared up at the ceiling, pouting slightly. "Maybe he was having a bad day or... or maybe he had sad memories with it..."

"...with _cake_?"

Tzuyu slowly slid down the couch. "It's possible.."

Mina let out a deep annoyed sigh and turned her attention back on the TV, not bothering anymore to deal with the human's stupid reasoning.

Recovering rather quickly from her sulking state after checking her watch, Tzuyu scooted closer to the vampire and poked her cheek. "Can I change the channel?"

Surprised at first, Mina stared at the tall girl from the corner of her eye. She took another sip from her cup and licked the blood off her red lips before glaring at the human.

"Please?" When Tzuyu got even closer, her strong alluring scent invaded Mina's nostrils, making her freeze in shock for a moment. She was in the middle of feeding and her senses were heightened to the extreme, and Tzuyu smelled a lot more delicious than the cup of blood in her hands. Way more delicious. And oh god, Mina felt so thirsty all of a sudden. It was very tempting to just turn her head and lean down to grab a bite from the girl's neck but she restrained herself like she had done many times before. The mortal girl's divine blood was still a big mystery to her. Sure, there had been a few humans in her past smelling–  _tasting_ delicious but Tzuyu was different. Mina didn't want to admit but sometimes, she didn't even want to feed on the mortal, she wanted to just nestle in close and breathe her scent in, feel her warmth on her cool skin–

 

Well, a thousand years may have past but Myoui Mina was still very much gay.

 

Pushing the remote towards Tzuyu, she distanced herself from the girl, immediately drinking down her cup of blood in one go.

Mina felt her fangs tingle before they went back to their normal size. She put the cup down and glanced at the clueless human who looked way too excited as she changed the channel.

Rolling her eyes, Mina crossed her legs as the deers on the TV screen peacefully drank water from a stream. There wasn't particularly anything interesting about a bunch of deers drinking water. Mina had seen it all before– she had even fed on them. The vampire grimaced as she remembered the bitter taste of the deers' blood. That was one of the _many_ mistakes she made back when she first turned.

And then suddenly, the screen went white. Mina was slightly curious by the abrupt color change but was still uninterested– keeping her eyes barely open. Soon after she gave up on trying to watch it, taking a nap seemed like a better option. Just as she was closing her eyes shut, a cute sound made her jump. Clicking her tongue, she peeked at the TV screen with a grumpy face and saw the cutest thing she had ever seen in her entire immortal life.

Cute little things walked side by side, looking ridiculously cute as they swayed from left to right without any balance, their black and white bodies glowing even with no sun in sight. One of the cute creatures suddenly lied down on what Mina guessed to be ice, and seconds later glided down and into the water with a loud splash. The vampire blocked out whatever the guy in the TV was saying, giving her full attention to the beautiful plump creatures.

"I've heard tales of this place," she muttered and Tzuyu managed to catch it just in time. "No color present but white and icy blue, coldest place on earth..."

"Aren't they adorable though?" Tzuyu squealed, clutching the remote to her chest with a big grin.

The vampire watched as one of the creatures gracefully leaned down to feed the smaller one. "What are they..?"

"Penguins."

"Where is that place?"

"The bottom of the Earth," Tzuyu smiled at Mina's curiosity. It was during times like these where Tzuyu felt proud to be teaching the vampire. Mina was brave and smart. Tzuyu was sure that if she had been in Mina's shoes and woken up a thousand years later, she would have gone mad. Which was one of the reasons why Tzuyu wanted to be there with her at every discovery the immortal girl made, eager to see her red eyes shine beautifully with astonishment. Tzuyu wanted to show and teach her many things but she just wasn't sure if Mina was up for it. She didn't want to be a bother either so she stayed silent until moments like _these_ came.

Sitting up straight, Mina turned to the human, her eyes sparkling with hope, "Can...can we go there?"

Tzuyu felt her heart clench– how was she supposed to reply to that innocent question? She decided that her words weren't going to be much help so instead, she shook her head slightly. The vampire's face completely fell and Tzuyu could swear she saw a pout forming on her lips. And then suddenly Mina masked her disappointment impressively well, turning her attention back on the penguins like her pure hopes weren't crushed just a second ago.

A bright idea lightened up Tzuyu's face and a big smile made her single dimple appear, eyes widening in excitement. "I could take you to the zoo?"

"The... zoo?"


	5. Chapter 5

"I have classes, sorry."

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, "No you don't, Chaengie. It's wednesday."

"Oh riiiiight," Chaeyoung laughed so loudly that Tzuyu had to distance the phone from her ear. "But you know what, unfortunately Sana's sick and well, when she's sick she gets really... _needy_  so I–"

"But I saw her at the library yesterday and she didn't look like she was sick at all."

"Well... Uh– yeah." Chaeyoung cleared her throat.

There was silence on both ends for a while before Tzuyu's concerned voice softly asked, "How is she? Do you need help–"

"Nooo, no, no, we're good. She'll be okay with a little rest...I think?" Tzuyu heard someone cutely giggle in the background and she was sure it wasn't Chaeyoung. "Anyway, I'll be staying over at hers till she's recovered so don't worry about us."

"Okay. Take good care of her,"

Chaeyoung laughed. "I will."

"If you need help–"

"I'll call, thanks Tzu. Sorry we can't make it."

Tzuyu shook her head even though she knew Chaeyoung couldn't see her. "It's fine. I'll see you guys later?"

"Of course. Bye, Tzuyu!"

"Bye," Tzuyu sighed as she hung up the phone. She turned to the vampire and pouted. "They said they can't come."

"Do I look like I care?"

Tzuyu's bottom lip jutted out even further. "You're so mean. Do you want to go or not?"

Mina rolled her eyes and mumbled some words under her breath grumpily, making Tzuyu wonder: was the vampire casting a spell to kill her or was she just cursing at her? Maybe it was both?

Mina was hesitant to answer. She didn't want to look like she was too enthusiastic about the offer to see the white-and-black animals– it hurt her pride greatly... Not that her pride hadn't taken really harsh blows already in the past week. But sleeping on the couch was one thing, agreeing to be taken to this 'zoo' as if she was an infant was another. 

...but Mina found herself agreeing anyway.

She leaned against the door with a soft sigh, dressed in a plain red hoodie (that ironically had a so-called-vampire on it, Mina felt embarrassed but...Tzuyu had insisted.) and jeans. 

"You're not getting your coat?" The mortal asked her, coming out of her room wearing a yellow dress that reached her knees, throwing her coat around her shoulders. 

For the last few days the weather had been surprisingly nice (not that it affected her much) so the vampire shook her head. "I'll be fine." Mina raised an eyebrow and looked the mortal up and down. "Why are you still not dressed?"

Tzuyu stared blankly at her. "I...am?"

Mina did go out a lot– mostly to feed on whatever animal she could find (and _rarely_ humans so she could get a decent taste left in her mouth every now and then) but she had never seen anyone wearing anything like Tzuyu. She decided it could be because of the sudden weather change and shrugged it off, heading towards the door. Although the fact that Tzuyu was going out half-naked (at least according to her) was a little bit disturbing.

"Wait!"

Before she knew it, a curtain was drawn over her eyes– immediately Mina grabbed whatever was on her head and conjured a fireball in the other, clearly annoyed by the look on her face. Just as she was about to burn the damn thing, Tzuyu held her wrist, "No! Wait!"

Mina turned the direction of her glare to the mortal and Tzuyu felt incredibly small all of a sudden.

"It -It'll keep the sun out of your face..."

A few seconds of silence passed before Mina gave in with a huff, putting the bucket hat on. 21st century hats were ridiculous, she knew that much. But seeing her reflection in the mirror inside the elevator, Mina felt embarrassed.

"I look ridiculous."

Tzuyu was quick to protest, "Nooo, you look cute."

Mina made a face.

Cute? Mina, an immortal being who drank blood and flashed her predatory fangs whenever she smiled, looked _cute_? 

....

...This mortal was out of her damn mind.

 

* * *

 

"Why are there so many children..."

Mina took her time to observe her surroundings. It was very crowded– different kinds of smells in the air. Mina felt slightly disturbed by the mixed smells of the many flavors humans had.

"Should I take you to see the penguins first? Oh oh, the giraffes are quite beautiful too. There's also–"

Mina zoned out as Tzuyu rambled on. Her features softened and the look of disgust on her face turned into amusement, the familiar lovely smell of the mortal wafting over her, chasing other smells out of her nose.

"Mina?"

Mina kept staring up at Tzuyu, it was really intimidating so the taller girl immediately tried to correct what she thought she was doing wrong: "I-I mean unnie? Mina unnie?" The fact she had never called the vampire by her name until this very moment surprised her.

Mina just stared.

Tzuyu wanted to die.

"O-Oh, um, shall I call you by your surname? ...Myoui-ssi?"

Silence.

"...your... immortal Excellency?"

Mina was enjoying this more than she should. Tzuyu was so flustered that she couldn't stay still– she was slightly jumping on her heels, biting the inside of her cheek, her eyes searching for a place to settle on. And it's not like Mina especially listened to Tzuyu's heart or anything but she also happened to notice how fast her heart was beating.

She decided to end the mortal's misery as the poor human looked like she was about to cry any second now. With a small chuckle her lips twitched and she smiled. "As much as I like the sound of that, I guess 'Myoui-ssi' will do it for now."

It was a little too formal for Tzuyu's liking but she decided not to push it. Clearly Mina wasn't much of a people person.

Suddenly a question popped into her head.

"Hey, Myoui-ssi, how come you know how to speak Korean? Hasn't the language changed over the years?"

"Well, I can't read because of the new alphabet and of course there's a lot of changes in the language itself..." Mina grabbed the tip of her bucket hat, blocking the weak rays of sunlight. "Don't compare your mortal self to me though– there's a spell we cast on the ones we put to sleep. Until the spell wears off, the sleeping vampires feed off the basic knowledge of the living vampire who put the spell on them in the first place."

"What happens when the spell wears off?"

"The knowledge transfer stops." Mina answered as she looked around for a sign that had penguins on it.

Tzuyu thought of all this info to be incredibly intriguing. Vampires were much complex creatures than everyone thought. She wanted to learn more. "Who was the one that put the spell on you?"

Mina's eyes finally caught a sign that was shaped like a penguin. "My mother."

Considering her close to none knowledge of the 21st century and even the ones long before it, Mina predicted her knowledge transfer to have stopped a few centuries after she was put to an eternal(?) sleep. Which meant... she didn't have any alive family member left.

Tzuyu suspected that was the case, and when a look of sadness flashed in Mina's eyes (even though it was for a split second), her thoughts were unfortunately confirmed.

Suddenly Mina said something that made Tzuyu stop walking.

"Beggars are allowed in?"

Tzuyu searched for a way to answer, completely confused why Mina would say such a thing.

"I... What?"

"That man. His pants are ripped pretty badly. And his hair is all messed up. Isn't he a beggar? He even has his sleeping rug with him."

Tzuyu looked into the direction Mina was staring at: there was a man with ripped jeans and incredibly messy hair sitting on a bench, a guitar case resting against his leg as he stared at his phone.

Tzuyu tried.

She really did. 

But she just couldn't.

"What's so funny, Chou?"

She stopped laughing only when she saw Mina folding her arms, her eyes flashing a very bright red under the shade of her hat without her lenses.

"N-Nothing! It's just, he's not–" A small chuckle escaped no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. "He's not a beggar. And that's...that's not a sleeping bag, it's a guitar case." Tzuyu ended her sentence with a huge grin, her cheeks flushed.

Mina couldn't glare harder. Who in their right mind would wear ripped pants if they weren't poor? It didn't make any sense. Rolling her eyes so hard that they hurt, she stomped her way towards the direction the penguin sign was pointing at. Tzuyu followed behind, her soft eyes set on the immortal girl.

Mina really was adorable.

***

"There!"

Mina watched one of the penguins walk towards the edge of the big rock and jump into the water just like in the Tv. There were various squeaking sounds Mina heard, and from the corner of her eye she saw Tzuyu producing some of them. 

"Please stop." Although her voice sounded colder than ice, a small amused smile played on Mina's lips.

Embarrassed, Tzuyu chuckled sheepishly before silently watching the cute penguins.

Mina loved seeing them in real life. But once she noticed the fences around the penguins, she frowned. She looked back and under her bucket hat, her eyes caught the sight of a huge cage people were gathered around– there were a few bears in it. She turned around, seeing a few more cages with supposedly dangerous animals. "I thought you of all people would despise a place like this– animals locked up in cages for people to view them for a twisted form of 'fun'." 

Mina could feel Tzuyu's gaze on her. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this human wasn't as nice and innocent as she thought.

But the mortal proved her wrong once more.

"I do. But this is different. These animals are rescued from the wild– they're not strong enough to survive on their own. They're well fed and happy here." Tzuyu had a gentle smile on her face the entire the time she spoke. 

"Let's go see the giraffes!"

Before the vampire could even say anything, Tzuyu ran off. With a sigh, Mina had no choice but to follow.

 

* * *

 

 After an hour of learning all the animals and feeling like a complete idiot, Mina just wanted to go home.

"Myoui-ssi! Look, that's Gogo!"

"You named a bear..?"

"I've been visiting him since he was a little cub. He's grown so much–"

Mina coughed, a familiar disgusting smell reaching up her nose. She hated her heightened sense of smell at times like these. Tzuyu rubbed her back, soothing her.

"Are you okay?" Tzuyu asked softly.

Mina knew where or who the smell was coming from. A man was standing a few feet away from them, smoke coming out of his mouth. Mina glared at him as she straightened up, her lungs not used to breathing such air. It reminded her of their annoying ex-neighbor.

"Excuse me!" Tzuyu marched up to the man much to the vampire's surprise. She stopped right in front of the tall man, folding her arms, her brows creased. "Smoking is prohibited in the area of the zoo, mister."

The man looked apologetic and immediately put out the cigarette between his fingers. "Oh, I am so sorry. I completely forgot–"

Tzuyu's features softened and she shot him a smile. "It's okay, mister. I'm sorry if I startled you, I was just concerned about the animals."

"No, please don't apologize." He smiled back. "Do you work here, miss?"

"Nope. Just here to visit." She looked over her shoulder and found Mina shooting daggers from her eyes to the both of them. "I-I have to go now– have a good day mister!"

Once she returned to Mina's side, the vampire grabbed her arm tight enough to hurt her. "Why did you talk to that thug for so long?" She spat out her words like they were poison.

"He's not a thug. He was actually pretty nice." Tzuyu put her hand on Mina's, trying to free her arm from her death grip.

"He has that stick of disgusting smoke in his mouth so excuse me for not believing you."

"It's called a cigarette and Myoui-ssi, not everyone who smokes is a bad person, okay?" Tzuyu was speaking so calmly, trying to explain. "I mean Chaeyoung smokes too but she's the cutest, nicest person you'll ever meet."

Mina still had her doubts since she didn't think of Chaeyoung anything like that. But she'd be lying if she said she wasn't surprised.

"Fine." 

She just had to take Tzuyu's word for it.

Tzuyu leaned down, her hand still resting on Mina's cold one, "Wanna go see the penguins one last time before we go?"

With a scoff, Mina walked away.

"Um, it's this way..." Tzuyu said behind her, pointing in the opposite direction Mina was walking to.

Making a quick u-turn, the vampire pulled the tip of her bucket hat down as she passed by Tzuyu, a light blush adorning her cheeks from embarrassement.

***

Once again looking at the penguins, Mina rested her elbows on the railing.

"You must really love them..."

Not liking Tzuyu's teasing tone, Mina threw her a glare. "I don't love them. I just _admire_ them."

"But you were smiling so wide just now."

"I was not. You were hallucinating."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you weren't."

"Yes, I was." Tzuyu made a confused face. "Wait, what? Hey–"

"Chou, the penguin is waving at you."

Tzuyu's neck snapped towards the penguins so hard, the vampire was scared she'd break it. And even though no penguin was waving at her, Tzuyu waved at them like they were with a huge smile before hitting Mina's arm with a laugh. 

Mina's lips twitched into a smile as she listened the sound of Tzuyu's soft chuckles. She made no effort to hide it this time.

"Wait right here, okay? I have to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be back!"

Mina rolled her eyes (for the umpteenth time that day) at the mortal's words that made her seem like a child, watching as the girl ran off to the nearest bathroom.

She stared at the penguins for a little longer, observing their every move. After a while she decided to go see the lions everyone seemed so excited about (except for Tzuyu who admitted she was a little scared of the said animal). She had seen a few in real life before but she wanted to know if they were the same as centuries before. It didn't seem like Tzuyu was gonna come anytime soon anyway. So she walked off her spot, heading towards the direction she guessed the lions were.

And that's how one of the oldest, most powerful vampire Myoui Mina got lost in the zoo.

It sounded ridiculous and it was ridiculous. Mina was a hunter, she could track where the penguins were but the scents of hundreds of mortals messed up her nose. So she wandered around and trusted her instincts. Just as her surroundings started to seem familiar, a loud voice almost deafened her.

"Attention please, Myoui Mina, your guardian is waiting for you by the exit. I repeat, Myoui Mina your guardian is waiting for you by the exit."

_Guardian? Surely, she doesn't mean Tzuyu._

Mina didn't know who this lady was and she wasn't sure if she could trust her. This lady(?) from the sky seemed pretty determined to make her go to the exit (which was visible from where she was standing), that it was a little suspicious. But then again, rather than wandering around the zoo aimlessly, Mina would prefer to take the sky lady's advice. So she did.

Once she went by the exit, she saw Tzuyu standing there just like the sky lady had said.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Tzuyu made a move to hug her but then decided not to when Mina threw her a look, awkwardly retracting her hands. "Sorry."

"I thought you said she was six." A short lady spoke next to Tzuyu, her displeasure obvious from her tone.

This voice...the sky lady! This small lady was the sky lady! Mina couldn't help but be disappointed, she had not imagined someone like her at all when she pictured the mighty being who spoke to her.

"I uh– she–"  Tzuyu tripped over her own words. "THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! BYE!"

Tzuyu practically ran and dragged Mina towards her car by the arm for reasons the vampire couldn't quite grasp.

Then she saw something. Something that made her stop right in her tracks. Something that made her envious.

There was a stand– full of animal plushies and souvenirs. Mina set her eyes on the penguin one, it looked so soft and adorable and the vampire wished such dolls existed when she was a kid. Although she doubted her mother would have bought it for her anyway.

"Want me to buy you one?"

Mina flinched at Tzuyu's chirpy voice and brought the tip of her bucket hat down (it was starting to become a habit). "No. I don't want something as ugly as that." With that she walked away, leaving a pouting Tzuyu by the plushie stand.

"She didn't mean it," Tzuyu patted the penguin's head with a small smile before getting in the car herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I'll be able to update until June, I have a big exam coming up :(( Letting you all know so you don't think I died or smthn lol


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